Heller decries Trump’s Yucca, budget plans as ‘anti-Nevada’ in address to Legislature

By Yvonne Gonzalez

Monday, April 17, 2017 | 8:30 p.m.

From Yucca Mountain to Syria, Nevada’s Republican Sen. Dean Heller spoke to state lawmakers Monday about his mixed stances on actions coming out of the Trump administration.

Heller joined several lawmakers who have spoken against attempts to revive the Yucca Mountain project in speeches before Assembly and Senate members so far this session, while saying he supported President Donald Trump’s actions following a chemical attack in Syria.

“Not only is the use of chemical weapons inhumane, it’s a blatant violation of international law,” Heller said. “I’m supportive of the Trump administration’s response. It sent a clear message of America’s intolerance for the murder of innocent civilians.”

He said the military strike was supported by both Democrats and Republicans.

The senator gave his speech after a Reno town hall with Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., an event that the Associated Press reported was occasionally combative. Protesters also gathered outside the Legislature in Carson City before Heller’s address to lawmakers.

Many wore pink in support of Planned Parenthood. Heller recently voted to allow states to decide whether to fund the organization.

Trump’s proposed budget includes a request for funds to revive efforts to store the nation’s nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain while suggesting cuts to public lands programs. Heller said this move coupled with suggested cuts to public lands programs make the president’s budget "anti-Nevada."

“Let me be clear: Yucca Mountain is dead,” he said, with a nod to former Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and his opposition to the project. “Nevada will not be our nation’s nuclear waste dump.”

Heller seemed to poke fun at some recent Republican snafus. He drew a laugh from lawmakers when he said the town hall that morning went smoothly, also saying that the president tweeted the event was “bigly,” and Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in a press conference that it was the largest town hall crowd ever.

Heller said he’s hopeful that the president will work with Congress and lay out his strategy for the American people.

“Despite media headlines highlighting divisions in Congress, I find that more unites us than divides us,” he said.

Veterans services were some of the examples of bipartisan legislative efforts that Heller pointed to from the past year. He said he’s working with a Democrat to push legislation that, in part, would improve access to gender-specific care for females who have served in the armed forces.

He said there are still gaps in providing timely care for veterans.

“There is a nationwide shortage of doctors and nurses, and Nevada is facing the worst of it,” Heller said. “So I’m working to establish incentives for doctors to come work at our VA hospitals, especially in Nevada’s more rural areas.”

On health care, Heller said the system is broken and the current law has led to higher premiums for some.

Heller said coverage should be protected for people insured under the current law, including those who gained benefits through Medicaid expansion. Heller was among the Republicans in Congress who did not support the GOP’s plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.

“It didn’t work for Nevada, and so it didn’t work for me,” Heller said.

Heller said a five-year highway bill approved by Congress helps states pursue high-priority projects, such as the Interstate 11 proposal. That effort would connect Phoenix to Las Vegas to Reno, and Heller said it would boost jobs and the economy.

The Lake Tahoe Restoration Act was reauthorized last year, and Heller said he has spent eight years supporting the measure to protect Northern Nevada’s largest tourist draw.

Heller also pointed to his efforts to support policies that would expand renewable energy, and said the country’s systems on taxes and immigration need reform.

“Congress has made significant progress over the past two years, but we have a lot of work ahead of us,” Heller said.